StateData.info

Data show that people with disabilities are consistently less likely to be working than their non-disabled counterparts. In this Data Note, the employment rate for working-age people is compared across disability types, as well as those without disabilities.

There is a long-standing pattern of black/white racial disparity in employment in the general U.S. population. This Data Note explores whether this racial employment disparity, that characterizes the general population, is also found in the employment outcomes of people with intellectual disability
(ID) who receive services from the vocational rehabilitation (VR) system.

This document contains the slides from a presentation given at the APSE national conference in 2019. It presents statistics that illustrate the characteristics of relatively higher-performing state systems with regard to employment and community engagement outcomes for individuals with IDD.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) offers a set of work incentives for Supplemental Security income (SSI) beneficiaries. Work incentive employment supports help SSI recipients go to work by minimizing the risk of losing their SSI or Medicaid benefits (Social Security Administration, 2018). One such incentive, the Plan to Achieve Self-Support (PASS), allows approved individuals to set aside earned or unearned income and resources to achieve an employment goal.

In FY2016, an estimated 638,568 individuals received day or employment supports from state IDD program agencies. This number grew from 455,824 in FY1999. The estimated number of individuals in integrated employment services increased from 108,227 in FY1999 to 120,244 in FY2016. Despite the trend to terminate facility-based services in some states, the overall state investment continues to emphasize non-work services, rather than integrated employment services.

Download the report here. Access the latest information about employment and economic self-sufficiency for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Both national and state-level statistics are included.

Only 23% of adults with intellectual disabilities work, compared to 73% of people without disabilities (statedata.info). To bridge this gap, the vocational rehabilitation (VR) program offers valuable services including assessment, job search assistance, and counseling. In FY 2014, over 46,000 adults with intellectual disabilities exited the national VR program. About 38% of them reported an employment outcome.

The 2015 National Report on Employment Services and Outcomes provides national and state-level statistics spanning a 20-year period. Its sources include several data sets that address employment outcomes and economic self-sufficiency for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

The increasing emphasis on government accountability at the state and federal levels has increased interest in and use of outcome data. Moreover, research has found that high performing states in integrated employment generally have a clear and visible data collection system that provides individual outcome data (Hall et al, 2007). But what are the most important elements in designing and using a system?